Crisis: Robotropolis
by Psycho Puppet
Summary: 5 years after the Extreme World Gran Prix. Robotnik has acquired all 7 Chaos Emeralds and the Master emerald. Sonic must defeat him, but with Robotnik's new creation, Ravage the Hybrid, and the mercenary team T.E.R.R.A., can Sonic pull this off? R&R Plz.


**Crisis: Robotropolis**

**Prologue: The horror that is Robotropolis  
**  
Sonic the Hedgehog looked at Station Square. Blue skies, people in abundance, towering skyscrapers and apartment buildings everywhere. Home to Sonic and his friends. Sonic sighed deeply as he threw the picture of Station Square on the metallic streets of the "new' Station Square. Sonic looked around at what it had become, and though he kept confident body language, inside it pained him to see the blue sky flushed out by black clouds of exhaust in the air. As he looked to the ground, the skyscrapers surrounding him were more of malevolent towers. Pointed and gnarled towers of rusted chrome and dim lights rose high in the blackened sky. His sight finally reached the ground, and it was no better. Hardly anyone was on the streets, and those who were had pale skin, and an unhappy countenance. The streets were also made of chrome, and rusted parts of scrap metal.

Sonic looked up only to see a holo-billboard of his nemesis: Doctor Ivo Robotnik.  
"Don't forget! The new Eggtransport V-X is now available at retailers EVERYWHERE! So ditch that old piece of junk you drive right now and get the new Eggtransport V-X!" the billboard announced. Sonic wanted to spit as he saw what Robotnik had done to his home. He clenched his fist, and took a step forward.

"No, Sonic. Ray and Knuckles haven't come back yet" a familiar voiced said. Sonic turned around; it was Mighty, his old friend.

"I know, Mighty... I know" Sonic said, in a weary voice. Behind him was also Amy. Amy stood all, seriousness in her eyes as she looked forward. It was not normal for her to be so serious or brave.

"Here they come, Sonic." Mighty said as he saw Ray and Knuckles approaching. "Someone must have found us out. The entrance to Eggman's tower is heavily guarded. Swatbots and Egg-Robos everywhere." Ray sighed, slightly tired from running and flying around the Robotnik tower.

"That shouldn't be a problem. What's the bad news?" Sonic asked, in a cocky voice.  
"Turrets and automated lazer cannons. The tower is lined with them. Vector and his gang can't override them from they're terminal" Knuckles said, as he stepped forward.  
Sonic snorted. "So, how are we supposed to get through?" Amy asked, hammer in hand.  
"Well, that's where we have two options..." Ray said, and turned his back to them. He faced the Robotropolis main tower. It was huge, touching the black exhaust-filled sky. The gate entrance was made in Robotnik's likeness, but a large wall blocked it, with Swatbot snipers surrounding it.

"Knuckles found a weak point on the wall near the right-hand side. He can easily smash through it, but that will alert the surrounding forces, and the turrets take about 5-10 seconds to charge and open fire. The way is dangerous, but the upside is we can go through a waste pipe that leads directly into the Waste Dumping facility, as Tails had analyzed before his capture." Ray finished, turning back to Sonic.

"What's the other way?" Sonic asked anger apparent in his tone.

"We go right through the wall's gate" Knuckles started.

"What? And die?" Sonic asked, anxious and angered.

"Hear me out, Sonic. The middle of the gate is weak, I could easily punch it open, but we'd have to move quickly, because the route is longer."

"Knuckles, are you hearing yourself?" Mighty asked, confusion in his voice.

"The entrance is actually less guarded. Most of the bots patrol routes are around the back. The turrets are our only real dilemma" he finished, and proceeded to lean on the side of a building.

"Sonic, it's your call" Mighty said, softly. Sonic thought for a second. They needed to get Tails back, that's for sure. Who knows what Robotnik did to him? He crossed his arms and thought about the two paths.

"Well, Sonic. What are we gonna do?" Ray asked, a slight tone of fear in his voice.  
Sonic's arms fell to his side as he clutched his hands into fists, and looked to Knuckles.  
"We go through the front" Sonic said, a distinct tone of anger and seriousness in his voice. Everyone nodded, and Sonic began running through the city, his comrades followed closely behind. "I'll get you back, Tails. That Eggman is going to pay."

**Chapter 1: Robotnik Tower**

Sonic and his friends rushed up to the gates of Robotnik Tower. As they approached, the Swatbots proceeded to open fire upon his crew. Sonic continued to rush up to the wall's gate, almost ignoring the bullets being shot at him by the Swatbots.

"Formation Alpha!" Sonic yelled as he rushed up to the gate. The team nodded and assumed the position. Ray and Amy fell back a bit, and Knuckles and Mighty sped up, ending up just behind Sonic. It looked sort of like an arrow when they were finished, and the second it was finished Sonic ran ahead and jumped into the air for a homing attack, which successfully beheaded a Swatbot. Mighty was next, he leaped into the air, much higher than Sonic, and came down like a meteor on a Swatbot, legs first, kicking the Swatbots torso clean out of its place.

"Go, Red!" Mighty yelled as he punched the arm off an incoming Swatbot.

"Right!" Knuckles replied, and rushed as fast as he could up to the gate. He punched it clean in the middle, making the doors swing open, and smashing all the Swatbots around the inner part of that area with the door. The rest of the crew rushed through after Knuckles, getting rid of any Swatbots or Badniks that crossed their path. As they rushed in, Robotnik Tower's gate began to close and the automated turrets and cannons were turning on, and beginning to open fire.

"Come on!" Sonic yelled as he upped his speed, rushing up to the Tower's entrance, doing homing attacks on anything that got in his way. The gates were closing fast, and so were they're hopes of survival.

"No! I can't let them have Tails!" he yelled, and upped his pace even more, the rest of them were going as fast as they could, trying to keep up with the blue blur. Sonic managed to rush up to the gate, just in time, and he stopped, looking back at his comrades. They were a ways behind, and probably wouldn't make it into the tower.

"Come on! Run you guys!" Sonic yelled.

"Damn it, Sonic! We're going as fast as we can!" Knuckles replied in annoyance. Sonic gasped as the Gate was approaching the brink of closure. In that moment, Mighty must have realized this, because he was rushing with all he had up to the gate. It was so close to closure, you would have to slide under. Mighty reached the gate first, and stopped when he got to it.

"Mighty! Get in!" Sonic yelled, Mighty didn't respond. Mighty then grabbed the underside of the gate, using all his strength to keep it from closing as the rest of the team rushed towards it. They had finally reached it, Knuckles was first, then Amy, then Ray. They slid under the closing door, Mighty was the only one left.

"Mighty! Come on!" Ray yelled a distinct fear in his voice.

"Go! Save Tails! I'll meet back up with you guys later!" Mighty said, and let go, and the gate closed, Mighty still out there.

"Come on! You metal bastards can't-" that's when he cut off, lost from the rest of the team.

"No! He'll die!" Amy yelled, worry and fear in her voice. Knuckles and Sonic ran up the gate, reaching it in seconds. They frantically looked for a way they could push it back up and to let Mighty in.

"Damn! I can't reach under!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I can't either!" Knuckles said in reply. Sonic slammed his fist onto the gate.

"Damn! Mighty!" he exclaimed, shutting his eyes tightly, so to keep his tears hidden. The whole team went silent, they had lost Mighty once again. He had only recently come back from wherever he had been, and just like that, he was gone again. Sonic looked down the dark hallway of the Robotnik Tower. He took a few steps forward, looking into the darkness.

"We… Have to keep going. I don't want to lose two people today, so let's go get Tails" Sonic said, his voice trying to stay firm and courageous, but a bit shaky nonetheless. A good man had been lost. Amy was on the verge of crying, her eyes tearing. Ray was staring at the gate in disbelief, he too had seen Mighty only recently ever since the time they got stuck on Robotnik's island. Knuckles punched the thick gate, not even making a dent in it. He leaned on it, keeping a fierce gaze on the gate, growling a bit.

"Come on! We don't have all day!" Sonic yelled voice still shaky, and started jogging into the darkness. The rest of the promptly team followed. They had little choice. As Sonic jogged through the darkness, the dim-lit green lights lit up just in front of him, illuminating the dark hallway. He and his team rushed through the hallways for what seemed like forever. They finally reached the end of the seemingly endless hallway, and into a lobby-like area. The ground was metallic, and upon closer inspection was a large Robotnik face.

"Be careful you guys, you never know what could be in here…" Sonic said, walking in, being as alert as possible. The rest of the team proceeded with caution into the large, empty, and slightly ominous room. At the other end was an elevator, Sonic signaled to the elevator. The team nodded, and jogged over to the elevator. Knuckles and Amy took places at the side of the elevator, ready to take out anything that came out. Ray was to back up Sonic as he called the elevator. Sonic walked up and pushed the button that read 'call lift', and got into a defensive position. For such a high tower, the elevator came down rather quickly, and opened up to reveal it was full of Swatbots, armed and ready. Sonic smiled slightly and jumped right into the middle of them, the rest of the crew following. Sonic did a sweep-kick to knock the lot of the robots on their back, while Knuckles, Amy, and Ray took care of them. The door closed and an eruption of gunfire and loud striking sounds emerged from it.

Robotnik laughed a bit as he saw Sonic go into the elevator.

"Ha. Sonic, not even you can stop me this time…" Robotnik to himself, as he watched Sonic through his hidden cameras.

"Doctor, Sonic is in the building. I know you may be aware, but we have not been given orders to act yet!" a voice came from behind Robotnik, the tone itself was annoying. Robotnik turned around to see Bean, the Dynamite duck behind him.

"Be patient, Bean. I know you would love to blow something up, but you must wait for my command to do so. Go wait with the others." Robotnik commanded, and turned back to the security monitors. The fighting in the elevator had stopped, that much was for certain. Robotnik could only wonder who the victor was, but he didn't really care. He had many on his side.

"But Doctor, those new guys you hired are totally weird, man! They're all black and antisocial, only conversing amongst themselves. Not to mention that cat, Pierce is basically mentally unstable… She totally wrecked the-"

"Stop complaining, you insolent fool! When I tell you to wait, then wait!" Robotnik commanded. Bean snorted and walked out of the security room.

"What a jerk…" he commented as he left.

"No one can stop me, Sonic. Not this time. NOT THIS TIME!" Robotnik exclaimed, and began to laugh maniacally. His vision was finally coming true. He would be rid of Sonic soon and take over the world.

Sonic and his crew had beaten the Swatbots inside, and now they cruised they're way to the top of the tower. They had a hunch that Robotnik was up there, but it was unsure. Though, if they knew Robotnik, that ego-maniac would be at the top.

"Sonic." Ray said, trying to get Sonic's attention. Sonic turned to Ray, and crossed his arms.

"What's up, Ray?" he asked, casually.

"I… I'd just like to say it's an honor to fight with you again, old friend, and whatever happens, I'll always stay by your side." Ray said confidence in his voice. Sonic smiled a bit as he heard what Ray had to say. It's true, he and Ray had not seen each other for quite awhile and it was nice to have him join Sonic's cause. He was a good man, agile and determined. Though he was jumpy, a good man to have nonetheless.

"Thanks, Ray. It means a lot to me." Sonic replied, and looked up. It was as if they were going down that hallway again, it was dark and the lights were just flickering on as they approached. The elevator was quite quick, as they would most likely reach the top after a few minutes. The team could not take their eyes off of the darkness ahead, and they all held fierce gazes. Tails' liberation was a necessity, for Tails had no doubt taken notes on the tower as he was being captured. Sonic knew he would need Tails' brain to take down Robotnik and take back all the emeralds. Sonic still couldn't believe Robotnik had taken all of the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald successfully.

"How could we have let this happen? How could _I _let this happen?" he asked himself, then stopped recalling the past five years right there. He didn't want to think about the defeats Robotnik had handed him over those years . They were too unbelievable, and furthermore, embarrasing. As they ascended further into the darkness, they all took another look at one another, and smiled. "Whatever happens…" Sonic started, and looked at everyone in the elevator. "We can't stop fighting." He finished, then looked back at the dark abyss that was Robotnik Tower

**Chapter 2: Ascension**

Sonic and the team were awaiting their final stop. The top of Robotnik Tower, and the location of that dirty Eggman bastard. The elevator stopped at the location with a bit of a thud. They walked out of the elevator to see another dimly lit hallway. This one was bigger, and had Robotnik's logos on the walls. Sonic sighed and walked out of the elevator, the rest followed. They took a few steps before being faced with a huge holoscreen of Robotnik. The man had a wide smile and a cocky look on his face. Sonic clenched his fists with rage, and shot the holoscreen a fierce look.

"Well, well… Sonic the hedgehog and friends." The holoscreen said, and gave a slight laugh.

"Where's Tails, Robotnik? I know you can hear me!" Sonic yelled, anger sharp in his voice. He took a step forward and raised his fist, as if he was about to fight.

"HA! You're right about that, Sonic, I can hear you, and Tails is right here…" Robotnik started and put his right hand out, presenting Tails' location. Sonic gasped in horror, Tails was handcuffed, and beaten, a distinct look of pain still on his face as he panted. What made things worse was he was being held at gunpoint by Fang, the notorious sniper weasel. He then look around at the environment, Tails was being held in a contained area, and he was hanging by his handcuffs on a huge hook, suspended just above a huge pool of battery acid. Fang stood over Tails on the large hook, gun pointed at Tails' head. He waved to the camera with a malevolent smile.

"NO! Damn you, Robotnik!" Sonic yelled, even more anger in his voice, but also a hint of fear. Robotnik laughed at Sonic's pain. He raised his finger up and his head down,

"The only way you can save him is if you pass through the Ascension Rites in my Tower." He said, laughing to himself.

"What kind of dumb test is this, Eggman?" Sonic yelled in reply, the same tone in his voice.

"Why, it's just through that door over there!" Robotnik said, and the holoscreen moved aside, revealing that the hallway was now lit clearly, and a door labeled "Ascension" was at the end of the hallway.

"You're being timed, Sonic." Robotnik announced. Sonic looked to the holoscreen and gasped at this new announcement.

"You have exactly thirty minutes and counting. It should not affect you, but what of your friends?" he asked, in his now usual, cocky tone. Sonic turned back to his friends, seeing that all of them were just as angry and worried about Tails as he was.

"Leave, you guys. I'm going to be going at my fastest, and if you fall behind, who knows what will happen?" he said, seriousness apparent in his tone.

"This is an order." He reassured. Knuckles grunted and walked up to him, giving him a straight punch across the face, knocking Sonic down. The rest of them gasped, Knuckles looked down at Sonic, anger in his gaze.

"An order? Who are you to be barking out orders at us at this point? We've come this far, Sonic. He's as much of a friend to us as he is to you. We're NOT leaving." Knuckles reassured. Sonic was on the ground, holding his face in pain. He was still doing so as he got up. He looked Knuckles right in the eyes. He wanted to punch him back, but he couldn't deny that Knuckles was completely right. He realized the selfishness of command, and sighed. He turned back to the door, fists clenched.

"C'mon then, you slackers! Let's get a move on!" Sonic yelled and rand down the hallway, the rest of the followed, running into the Ascension room after Sonic. As they got in, Sonic had to make a screeching halt. They were floating on a rocket-powered platform, underneath was utter blackness. The rest of the team made a screeching halt as well, scouting out the area. It was high, that was no doubt, and the only other suspended platform was at the top, leading to the next door.

"How… Are we supposed to get up there?" Ray asked, utterly confused and a puzzled look on his face.

"C'mon, Ray. What do we have that these two don't?" Knuckles said confidence in his voice. Ray looked to him, still puzzled, and then remembered. They could jump higher than both of them. "Amy! Give me your hand!" Ray exclaimed. Amy took a step back,

"Ray… I already told you… It's not going to-"

"No, Amy! I'll boost you up! See that pole?" Ray asked, and pointed to a pole, midway to the top. "You gotta shoot for that!" he explained.

"Oohhh… All right" Amy nodded. She grabbed Ray's hand. Knuckles grabbed Sonic's hand without a second thought. Knuckles jumped first, as far as he possibly could, and launched Sonic to a pole on the other side of where Ray was aiming. Ray jumped shortly after Knuckles did, and launched Amy up to her location. Sonic grabbed on to the pole with ease, Amy on the other hand was hanging by her hammer.

"Amy! Climb up!" Sonic yelled to her, squatting on the pole. Amy nodded and reached for the head of her hammer. She grabbed it and pulled herself up onto the pole, squatting like Sonic. Knuckles launched Ray to Sonic's pole as well. Knuckles then immediately started climbing up the wall, reaching the pole within a minute. As Ray approached Sonic's pole, Sonic leaped off, grabbing Ray's hand as he did so, and launched him higher. Knuckles ended up near Amy, and kicked off the wall upward, grabbing Amy and launching her up to where Ray was. Knuckles then glided to where Sonic was, and launched him up as well. Ray once again found himself launching Amy, but this time he was aiming for the wall. There was no way around the flaming jet that held the platform afloat, so Ray launched her to the wall. Amy turned her legs to the wall, and kicked off as soon as she hit it, landing safely on the platform. Knuckles hit the wall and began climbing to Ray. Both Sonic and Ray were falling; he needed to get to one of them. Knuckles kicked off the wall, heading for Ray. He grabbed his hand and launched him up to Sonic. Ray then grabbed Sonic's hand and launched him the same way he launched Amy. Sonic did the same as Amy, and landed on the platform safely. Knuckles was then climbing up the side of the wall, once again. Ray glided toward him, and grabbed onto his hand. Knuckles climbed up past the jet of fire, and threw Ray towards it. Ray did a flip in mid-air, and landed safely on the platform. Knuckles simply kicked off the wall, and landed on the platform. Sonic looked over the side of the platform, they were really high up. He whistled, and looked over to a door labeled "End".

"C'mon! Let's see what this egghead has planned for us next!" Sonic said, and ran towards it. As Sonic approached the door, two turrets came out from the side of it.

"Sonic! Look out!" Knuckles exclaimed, and Sonic looked up at the turrets, which were now opening fire upon him.

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed, and jumped back towards the platform. The turrets then retracted. Sonic scratched his head and looked around.

"What the… Why did they stop firing?" he asked himself.

"Security must be set up beyond a certain point." Amy added, also looking around for a possible solution. Knuckles looked at the door, then at the turret holes.

"Those aren't turrets… Those were Swatbots firing at Sonic" Knuckles said, and crossed his arms.

"What? What do you mean?" Sonic asked, confused.

"Look" Knuckles pointed. "The alloy is less dense. I could probably punch through it" he finished, and rushed up to the door. The turrets once again popped out and fired, Knuckles didn't even flinch. He rushed up and gave a swift uppercut to the turret gun, and it flew out of place. The side of the large door then opened up to reveal a Swatbot. Knuckles had been correct. Knuckles smashed the Swatbot into pieces, and jumped into the corridor behind the door, where the Swatbot came out of. The turret gun the dropped out of the socket, followed by a metallic crunching sound. The door then opened to reveal Knuckles on the other side, and past him, the room shown in the hologram. Sonic rushed towards it anxiously, passing Knuckles. The rest of them followed in after him. Sonic saw the room ahead, a giant hook, and the faint glow of the battery acid. He was almost there, and Robotnik would pay for what he had done. This would be the hour that he answered to his various crimes, and accepted his inevitable fate.

**Chapter 3: Celebrities**

"Here they come" Fang, the devious sniper weasel said through a headset. He was always uneasy while working for Robotnik; he had obviously gained a lot of power if he was able to defeat Sonic and his allies.

"Good. Keep up the hostage until Bean gets there with re-enforcements." came Robotniks voice from the earpiece of the surprisingly small headset. Fang nodded, not responding to the command, because he knew he was being watched. Robotnik had cameras everywhere, and if not cameras, sentry robots. Fang then looked back to the entrance. They had arrived, Sonic and his little friends. Sonic's anger was apparent, it showed in every inch of his body, and his fierce gaze that rested upon him was also another sign. Sonic's friends also held a fierce gaze at Fang, and he could do nothing but smile. Fang was virtually untouchable as long as he held his gun to Tails' battered head. He looked down to the fox again, and his smile widened. Tails was beaten badly, and Fang remembered the pistol whips he had given him, and the constant bruises and lumps that he smacked continuously. It was a brutal time, and he wanted to do the same to a certain blue hedgehog.

"Put him down, Fang. You know what'll happen if you don't" Sonic said, anger in his voice, but taking a much more cocky tone. Fang snickered.

"You're forgetting who's in danger… And who's making the danger, Sonic!" Fang exclaimed, keeping a cocky smile on his face. He pushed his gun harder on Tails' forehead, making him squint and give a slight squeal of pain. Sonic clenched his fists in anger.

"I said… Let Tails go. Now" Sonic's voice became seriousness mixed with anger. A fire was evident in his eyes. Fang's smile widened, and his eyes, too lit up. Though his lit up with an ominous glow of malevolent glee. It was painful for Sonic to admit, but he knew he was at the mercy of Fang. As long as he had that damned gun to Tails' head, he couldn't make any sudden movements. Sonic knew Fang wouldn't hesitate to pull that trigger, either. He knew Fang; he knew he was a worthless, traitorous, bastard and nothing more. Sonic wanted to kill him for what he had done to Tails, but he reminded himself once again, he was at the weasel's mercy. He stared Fang down for a good five minutes. His rage was building with every passing minute, until he heard a familiar laughter from above. It was too familiar.

"Welcome, Sonic. I'm sorry for not showing myself earlier!" came Robotnik's from above. Sonic wanted to rip him apart has he came down on a jet platform. Robotnik wore his usual maniacal smile as he looked down on Sonic. His appearance had changed, the red vest he wore was now black, and the straps that led to the gold buttons were red. His zipper was now gold as well. His goggles were silver, with neon green lenses. Sonic nearly laughed at his most drastic change, his bionic arm. Robotnik tried to hide it under his sleeve, but his hand was not gloved, therefore it showed the metallic hand. Robotnik lifted his normal hand and pointed at Sonic.

"Sonic The Hedgehog. You and you're little resistance is through. A valiant effort at, but I'm afraid you're all under arrest, and when we find the base of your resistance in Metal Dune Desert, it'll be the end of you." Robotnik said; confidence in his voice. Sonic was confused, what did he mean by under arrest? There was noone but the, in the room.

"Don't move, Sonic" a slightly squeaky voice said from behind him. Sonic turned around to see Bean with a virtual army of Swatbots.

"Damn it…" Sonic cursed under his breath. There was no other way to go; he had turn to himself in to Robotnik. Sonic didn't want to raise his hands in surrender.

"What the hell?" Fanged exclaimed and was looking frantically around; his expression was one of worry and anger.

"What is it!" Robotnik exclaimed in response, his hands now at his sides and, his fists clenched.

"Knuckles! He's gone! He was with Sonic!" Fang replied, looking back at Robotnik.

"Damn it Knuckles… Not now…" Sonic said softly to himself. Tails' life was on the line, he didn't want that knucklehead trying to be a hero.

"Looking for me, Fang!" Knuckles exclaimed as he slid down the chain and smacked Fang right off the hook with a straight punch.

"KILL HIM!" Robotnik commanded, and the swatbots opened fire upon the echidna. Sonic saw no reason to not attack now, and he nodded to his companions in approval of his position. Sonic leaped into the air and launched a homing attack. He was going to destroy as many of these damned robots as he could.

"I don't think so!" Bean's voice yelled and Sonic's homing attack ran smack into a bomb that Bean had thrown into Sonic's way. Sonic flew back and almost into the pool of glowing battery acid.

"Damn you Sonic!" he heard Fang's voice from the pool, and looked down over the ledge.

"DIE!" he yelled and aimed his gun at Sonic's peeking head as he hung over the ledge. As he fired, Sonic rolled back, grabbing the hand he was hanging by and throwing him into Bean. The two minions clashed and Fang's gun accidentally went off, shooting Bean square in the foot. Bean screamed in pain, and then shot Fang an angry look.

"Damn it! What the hell?" he demanded. Fang desperately tried to hide his laughter,

"Sorry, mate…" he said, then burst into laughter. Bean was winding up for a punch, when a sword came between the two. Fang immediately stopped his laughter and looked up, Bean also stopped to look who was coming between them. A shadowed figure in the shape of a hedgehog stood in the hallway. He stepped out of the shadow, and revealed that he was not a hedgehog, but another creature.

"Ravage…" Bean and Fang said at the same time. The hedgehog-like creature was red with grey streaks going down his spines. He wore red-tinted goggles and dark grey attire. Instead of ears, he had antennae-like limbs coming from his head, and a long tail.

"We've got work to do." He said his voice deep and cold. The two minions got up without a second thought, anyone, robot or organic dared not cross Ravage. He was Robotnik's finest creation, and best warrior. He stared Sonic down, his green eyes meeting with Ravage's. Time seemed to stop as they're eyes met, his eyes word cold. The eyes of a killer. Sonic couldn't help but have a slight feeling of fear around this guy Ravage, his eyes told that he was a killer, and that, like Fang, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. Sonic was brought back to his senses by Knuckles' call. He was waving behind a slab of metal on the other side of the room. Sonic took one last glance at the creature and ran towards Knuckles' position, still being fired upon by the Swatbots, and now Fang. Sonic jumped behind the cover to find that the whole group was there.

"What are we doing, Knuckles? We need to defeat them all!" Sonic exclaimed.

"We can't, you idiot!" Knuckles exclaimed in reply. "Besides, look at Tails! We can't leave him unprotected while we go fight!" he added. Sonic couldn't deny Knuckles' logic. It would take all of them to defeat Robotnik's minions, especially that Ravage guy. Sonic looked around from his cover for a way out. He almost lit up when he saw a drainpipe just under Robotnik's platform. He signaled to the group, informing them where the drainpipe was. They nodded.

"Knuckles, you could run at full speed with Tails on your back, you go first" Sonic suggested. Knuckles snorted, and exploded out of the cover area. He rushed towards the area, not looking anywhere but where then target area was. Sonic watched as Knuckles slid down into the pipe, pushing Tails in first. Sonic signaled to the remaining members of his group to follow his lead.

"You fools! Seal the drainage pipe under me!" Robotnik exclaimed, and moved out of the way so the Swatbots could move in. Sonic leaped into the air at the incoming Swatbots, and launched himself in a homing attack.

"Shoot him down!" Robotnik commanded, and pointed to Sonic. The command was issued too late, for Sonic had ripped trough about half of them in almost a split second, ending with Bean. As he crashed into Bean, he once again found himself crashing into Fang, and once again being shot in the foot, and, once again, screaming in pain. Ravage did not fight, he stood in the hallway, watching Sonic's moves, scanning them, making ways to counter them.

"You idiots couldn't hold your own against a baby!" Robotnik exclaimed, in an annoyed tone. Sonic rebounded back so far, he flipped down into the drainpipe. Robotnik growled, he had sonic in the palm of his hand! How could he let this happen? He didn't think of it for long, for he put his robotic hand up to his mouth,

"Go, you three. Deploy at sector D-4" he said into the palm of his hand.

"You got it, boss!" a reply came, back through his hand as he threw it down to his side. Robotnik gave a slight laugh, and his cocky smile once again arose on his face.

"You are no match for my new recruits, Sonic. That is fact" He said to himself, as his platform rose back to the very top of Robotnik Tower.

Sonic and his group slid down the drainpipe. None of them knew where this lead, not even Tails. When they reached the end of the dark, slimy tunnel, the found themselves on a platform, surrounded by a green, bubbling liquid, corroded robot parts and other miscellaneous metals floated around inside of it. On the other side of the platform were two more pipes, one underneath the gooey liquid, and one above it. Knuckles mounted Tails on his back, giving him a kind of piggyback ride. He looked inside of it, and gasped.

"It leads outside!" he exclaimed, and the others looked over to him.

"It leads right outside the walls! We can crawl our way outta here!" he exclaimed and turned back to them. Everyone's faces lit up with happiness, they had saved Tails, and they could get him medical attention sooner than previously thought. Knuckles climbed in first, Sonic got there second, but waited for everyone else to get in first. As he was about to climb in, when metal bars flew over the drainpipe.

"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed as she turned to see the pip close up.

"It's all right, go on ahead, I'll catch up! These shouldn't be that hard to break, anyway." He said, and watched Amy disappear into the darkness of the pipe. He heard the laughing of a girl behind him, and turned. Nothing.

"Show yourself, coward!" Sonic exclaimed, and it was answered with another laugh. Sonic deduced it was coming from above, and was a female, but waited to see if the female spy would show herself.

"Awright, guys. I guess we betta show ourselves, 'coz 'dis bloke don't got a clue" the female voice said again. She was young, probably only in her teens. A spotlight flickered at the roof of the room, illuminating a platform with three figures. One was a black cat, the female in the group. She wore a black unbuttoned flak jacket, without any type of shirt underneath. She wore black jeans, black combat boots with red laces, and a black hat that read "Shove it" in red letters. Here eyes were different colors, her left was gold and her right was silver. She wore a cocky grin as she looked down at Sonic. The other was a black chameleon, about the same height as Espio. He too wore an unbuttoned flak jacket, black jeans, and black boots with red laces. Dragon tattoos ran down the sides of his crossed arms. On the back of his waist, a sheath held a katana, and on his belt was a peculiar blaster. The last one, behind both of them was a black hedgehog, his spines did not fall behind him like Sonic's, but stuck right up into the air. He wore no shirt, or jacket, but a black cape, that reached down to the ground, and dragged slightly. His right eye was fake, stitched in with metal wire, there was no white, just grey, and the pupil and the eye was glowing red. His other eye was normal, except for the dead, grey eye color. Scars were all over his body, and metallic plates were stuck onto his spines to keep them straight upward. Upon closer inspection, Sonic recognized the group. They were the rock band "Red Sky", but what were they doing in here of all places, and what were they up to?

"No doubt you've seen us before," the cat, who's name was Pierce, said, in a cocky tone. Zero the chameleon and X the hedgehog stayed quiet, they did not speak, but X had a very harmonic voice, and was back-up vocals of the band.

"What are celebrities like you doing in a place like this?" Sonic asked in utter confusion. Pierce broke out in laughter, which made Sonic only more confused.

"What a bloke!" she said, and uneasily stopped laughing. When she did, she pulled out a remote control. Sonic was so confused, he didn't know what the hell was going on. Why was a celebrity band in Robotnik Tower? Why did she have a remote? Nothing made sense. Pierce pressed a button on the remote, and the room shook a bit, and a metallic screeching sound came from inside the gooey liquid around Sonic.

"If you can beat this, Sonic, then more power to ya! If you can't well 'den, we get our pay earlier!" Pierce said, and smacked a hidden panel behind them, opening a hidden door in that same place. They turned and walked out, the door closing behind them. Sonic was now more alert than confused, what did she do? He would find the answer soon enough, for four, thin, metallic legs came up from the goo.

"This won't be good." He said, as he waited for the thing to reveal itself. Whatever it was, he knew it was going to suck.


End file.
